


Some of These Days

by TeaRoses



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spike takes a "virtual vacation" and finds out he isn't alone.</p><p>Thank you to lady_ganesh for beta work. Any mistakes are my own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some of These Days

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for springkink on LiveJournal, for the prompt "tropical getaway - 'Why do I have to share this with you?'"

Spike was taking a leisurely walk down the streets of Volta City on Venus. For once he wasn't chasing a bounty or gluing himself to a bar stool. If anything, he could almost say he was bored. That was why he paid attention when the kid yelled at him.

"Take a vacation, one thousand woolongs!" The kid was a thin white boy with blond hair. "You, sir, take a vacation?"

Spike glared at him. "Do I look like I need a vacation?" he asked with some bitterness.

The boy was clearly taken aback but answered with, "Well, yeah, actually you do."

Spike lit a cigarette. "What kind of vacation only costs a thousand woolongs anyway? A trip to the dump?"

"A virtual vacation," the kid said with a grin. He pointed to a storefront. "Sit down in here, put on a helmet, and go anywhere you want."

"Now that's a waste of money," Spike said. It sounded like some weird idea Ed would come up with, only stupider.

"Tell you what, I'll let you try it for free. Then come back and bring your friends."

"I don't have any friends." But Spike had to admit he was curious. Virtual reality fads came and went these days, but maybe there were some new twists now.

"So how does it work?" he asked. "It just shows you a movie of someplace nice?"

"The helmet feeds directly into your nervous system, and uses your own mind to give you the perfect vacation."

"Sounds scary."

"It's fun. I'd be in there right now if I didn't have to be out here getting customers."

Spike threw the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out. "Fine, I'll give it a try," he said. How would it hurt, if it was free?

The storefront was divided into dingy little cubicles, with a chair and a helmet in each one. Spike couldn't tell if there was anyone there besides him. The kid sat Spike down in a cubicle and put the silver and black helmet over his head. It covered everything including his face, with just a grille over the nose for air. There were metal ridges lining the inside, probably there to "read his thoughts." Spike was certain that was all for effect. He also doubted that the thing had any ability to read his mind. This would probably turn out to be just some cheap video effects, but at least he hadn't wasted any money on it. 

"Enjoy!" the kid said as he left.

Spike closed his eyes, and suddenly found himself on the beach. It was a pretty beach with waves washing up onto perfect sand and palm trees in the distance. The sun was setting and the sky was pink and gold.

Spike wasn't really too into beaches. You got sand all over you, for one thing, and Spike didn't even like swimming. But he had to admit that this was a nice place. It resembled pictures he had seen of beaches on Earth, not that anyone vacationed on Earth anymore.

The illusion was pretty convincing. Not only could he see the scenery and hear the crashing waves, he could also smell the salt spray and feel his feet digging into the sand as he walked. He was still wearing his suit, which was unusual for the beach, but overall this was pretty realistic.

Maybe it was a little relaxing after all, he thought to himself, and at least he didn't have to worry he was going to walk home with sand in his shoes. That was when he saw that the beach wasn't empty after all.

At first he thought it was a woman in a swimsuit, and thought maybe this was an entirely different kind of "vacation" than advertised. But as she got closer, he realized that the "swimsuit" was a shorts set made out of shiny gold cloth, and the woman was no other than Faye Valentine. 

He stood in the sand watching as she approached. She was humming, in her off-key way, and after a bit he recognized "Some of These Days." Fortunately she wasn't singing, but the lyrics flashed through Spike's mind.

_Some of these days you'll miss me, honey_  
Some of these days you're gonna be so lonely  
You'll miss my huggin'; you're gonna miss my kissin'  
Oh, you're gonna miss me, honey, when I'm far away 

"Since when do you listen to Sophie Tucker?" he said to her. 

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Spike," she replied. 

Well, that much was true.

"What did you do, follow me into this place? Did you pay the full thousand?" He hadn't even realized the stores other customers would appear in "his" vacation.

Faye looked confused. "I didn't follow you anywhere."

"Don't bother lying," he replied. He reached for his cigarettes but apparently he hadn't brought them to the beach.

"This is your dream, in your mind. You must have been thinking of me," she said.

"Faye, believe me when I say this: You are not my dream woman." 

He expected her to look disappointed or angry, but she just laughed. "Looks like I am and you just didn't know it." Then she stood, hands on her hips, and winked at him.

"Admit it Faye, the real you is sitting here in a cubicle with a helmet over your head."

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied.

"Can't you just leave me alone? I thought if I left you behind on the Bebop I'd at least get some peace."

"Sounds like you think about me more than you want to admit," she replied.

All right, he thought of Faye sometimes. Mostly he thought about what a pain in the ass she was, but sometimes he thought of the way she smiled when she told one of her bad jokes, or the way looked when she lay sprawled out on the couch, as if she didn't realize what her body did to men. Well, to some men. Spike tried not to include himself in their number, and usually he succeeded, or so he thought.

Faye moved forward until she was only inches away from him. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" she asked, toying with the edge of his lapel.

Spike moved back. Faye didn't usually make him uncomfortable, just exasperated. But then again she didn't usually act seductive, at least not toward him.

"What do you want, Faye?" 

"What do you want?" she echoed.

"From you, nothing." He was lying, and he could tell she knew that.

"Not even a kiss?" She was leaning toward him, her lips almost touching his. "This isn't real," she reminded him.

Maybe it was something about the beach or the palm trees that made him forget the consequences. He kissed her, lightly at first, burying his hand in her hair. Her mouth was soft and giving, and she immediately slid her tongue past his and pressed her body close to him. He wrapped his hands around her bare waist. She was so warm, as if the setting sun had heated her skin.

When he broke the kiss, she grinned at him. "You can't tell me you didn't like that."

And he couldn't. Spike's body, and possibly part of his mind, wanted this contact, wanted Faye in all her overdone glory. He was picturing what she would look like if he unfastened that outfit, how perfect her body would be in the fading sunlight and what it would feel like to run his hands over all of her.

Suddenly the beach and Faye disappeared. Spike was blinking his eyes in the grimy cubicle as the skinny kid took the helmet off his head. He couldn't help feeling disappointed to be brought back to reality.

"Nice vacation?" he asked.

"Terrible," Spike replied. "Listen, there's a woman in here too, right? A really curvy woman in shorts?"

"I can't talk about the other customers, pal."

Spike had a brief thought of bribing him, but decided not to waste the money. He knew Faye was there, anyway. After wandering the streets for a while he made his way back to the Bebop. 

When he arrived, Faye was lying on the couch smoking and reading a magazine. "Have a nice time, Spike?"

"You know what kind of day I had," he replied. Would he end up kissing her in real life? And did he want to?

"Huh?" Faye replied.

"You were there. In the virtual reality place." 

Faye shook her head. "No. I was at the track all day."

That did sound more like Faye than a virtual vacation did. But the alternative was that he had really dreamed of her, and he didn't want to even think about that.

"Fine, don't tell me the truth. I don't even care."

She got up from the couch. "I'm going to take a shower," she muttered. "Away from weird people."

But as she left, he could swear he heard a few notes of "Some of These Days."

_I feel so lonely, for you only_  
'cause you know, honey, you've always had your way  
And when you leave me you know it's gonna grieve me  
Gonna miss your mama some of these days 


End file.
